Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for producing hydrogen and/or other gases from steel plant wastes and waste heat.
Description of Related Art
With the increasing use and depletion of non-renewable sources of energy, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, hydrogen is being increasingly looked upon as a viable alternative fuel. Quite a few processes exist for separation and collection of hydrogen gas. Among these the most popular are electrolysis and the use of high temperature nuclear reactors or petroleum processing plants to split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen. These processes are expensive as they involve use of electricity or other chemicals such as sulphuric acid, hydrogen iodide, metallic zinc and zinc oxide, which need closed-loop regeneration and handling. This makes the production of hydrogen a costly process.
In the steel plant the generated wastes, like molten slag from basic oxygen converters called LD slag, at a temperature of about 1600° C. to 1700° C., are dumped into pits for removal and further processing. In the present invention, the heat of this waste material can be used for the production of a gas stream comprising hydrogen gas or hydrogen and carbon monoxide.